Joe Brassell
5/5
Our family had an incredible experience with AVA Rafting & Zipline.
Short version-
We started our day with the zipline portion. Lots of fun / great views. Safety was never a concern and the crew (Emma, Jess, Cody and Trey) were amazing.
Rafting was a blast and our guide, Shawn, was awesome. He set us up for success early on and gave us great input on how to handle the journey safely. Shawn also did a great job answering any questions we threw at him as well as giving us a bunch of cool info about the area.
Long version-
----- ZIPLINING -----
After walking into the building we were greated and reminded of what the experience would be like as well as timing. We enjoyed some REALLY good free hot cocoa while we waited for the rest of the folks who would be going on the same trip with us.
There's a short bus ride to the ziplining area and then a pretty decent walk up a large hill (mountain?) for about 10 minutes or so. If you're not used to this altitude, you may want to acclimate to the area for a few days before embarking on your journey.
Our guides were professional but still very fun to talk to and interact with. They took their jobs and our safety very seriously but still cracked jokes with everyone.
We went at the end of August 2024 and it was around 95F. There were a few periods of having to wait for a few minutes in areas of little to no shade so be sure you're wearing sunblock before you go!
The views while ziplining were really amazing! Our favorite part was the dual zipline portion where you get to race. (I won)
After the ziplining, there was another short bus ride back to "camp" and we had about 30 - 45 minutes before we got prepped for rafting.
~~~~ RAFTING ~~~~
For rafting, there was an intro safety chat, then everyone was given individual attention to make sure they got the appropriate safety gear and that it was fitted properly.
We took another bus ride and were given another safety chat as well as some tour guide type info about the area. There were also some "Dad jokes" sprinkled in. After we arrived there was a brief window for a bathroom break (the bathroom at the drop off smelled HORRID and there was no way to clean your hands after. so go at one of the many bathrooms at the camp before leaving for rafting! This is not related to AVA, this is just an fyi)
People were assigned their guide and we were very fortunate to have been assigned Shawn Daws. I believe he was the most experienced with 10 or so years. I hope I'm remembering that right. Before getting into our raft, Shawn again went over safety info including how to sit on the raft and how to paddle. We set out and the tutorial continued including some real world tests to make sure we were ready for the rapids we would encounter on our journey.
It took us a little while but Shawn made sure to address any opportunities for improvement we had and from that point forward we were practically pros! We were able to work really well as a team under Shawn's expert guidance.
Along the way we asked got a lot of cool info about the area, the history, etc.
The end of August trip we experienced was great for us as we were first timers but that doesn't mean there wasn't danger or excitement. There was plenty of adrenaline flowing through our veins at many parts of the trip!
Once done we all boarded the bus back and there was more humor, history and even some food recommendations for those who had time to go into Buena Vista to get some chow afterward.
Overall it was an exceptional experience and we highly recommend it! AVA allows you to book with certain people and we highly recommend the crew that kept us safe and helped us to have an incredible visit: Emma, Jess, Cody, Trey and Shawn.
